Tyler man gets 50 years in woman’s murder

TYLER — A Tyler man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 50 years in prison in a Smith County court on Wednesday for the death of a woman in September 2021. According to our news partner KETK, Javier Valenzuela-Avila, 21, was sentenced for the murder of Laura Garcia, who was 25. Garcia’s body was found on Sept. 4, 2021, when police responded to a welfare concern on East Dawson Street. Valenzuela-Avila was admitted to a local hospital under police watch for self-inflicted wounds. He was arrested on Sept. 5, 2021 and booked into the Smith County Jail on a murder warrant with a $1 million bond.